Connor: Hoping for better things this summer

England went into the game in hopeful mood after defeating an Indian Women's Cricket Association XI by three wickets on Wednesday.

And Thompson and Atkins gave them an excellent start after Connor won the toss and chose to bat first.

They were together until the 39th over when Atkins was run out by Indian skipper Anjum Chopra for 53.

Thompson followed six overs later, having made 65 off 128 balls, with six fours.her fourth half century of the tour.

Jackie Hawker, promoted to number three, scored 16 but four more wickets went down as England pressed for runs in the final five overs of their innings.

India began brightly in reply with the nomrally reliable Lucy Pearsonconceding 28 from her four overs as Amrita and Anju Jain found the boundary at regular intervals.

They put on 117 in 27 overs before Thompson made the breakthrough with her medium pace, having Jain caught by Laura Newton for 48.

Chopra soon followed, bowled by Dawn Holden for eight, and England were still in with an outside chance at that stage.

A stand of 35 between Amrita and Mithali Raj effectively settled the issue, however, before the former gave a return catch to Newton.

Clare Taylor produced a beauty which cut back off the seam to bowl Raj for 21, but India reached their target with 3.2 overs to spare.

The two sides will meet again this summer when they take part in a triangular series in England, also involving world champions New Zealand.

India: A Jain, S Amrita, M Raj, A Chopra, H Kala, A Nooshin, K Arundhati, D Kulkarni, G Jhulan, N David, S Singh.

England: C Atkins, A Thompson, M Godliman, J Hawker, C Connor, L Newton, J Cassar, D Holden, S Clarke, C Taylor, L Pearson.